Page:Betty Gordon in the Land of Oil.djvu/106

96 as he could, sometimes being absent for two or three days at a time. The horse he had ordered for Betty arrived, and proved to be all that was said for it. She was a wiry little animal, and Betty christened her "Clover." For Bob, Mr. Gordon succeeded in capturing a big, rawboned white horse with a gift of astonishing speed. Riding horses were at a premium, for distances between wells were something to be reckoned with, and those who did not own a car had to depend on horses. Bob even saw one enthusiastic prospector mounted on a donkey.

As soon as they were used to their mounts, Betty and Bob began to go off for long rides, always remembering Mr. Gordon's injunction to stay away from the town.

"How tanned you are, Betty!" Bob said one day, as they were letting their horses walk after a brisk gallop. "I declare, you're almost as brown as Ki. I like you that way, though," he added hastily, as if he feared she might think he was criticising. "And that red tie is awfully pretty."

"You look like an Indian yourself," said Betty shyly.

But Bob's blue eyes, while attractive enough in his brown face, would preclude any idea that he might have Indian blood. Betty, on the other hand, as the boy said, was as brown as an